It’s hard to understand a lot about a place in 600 words – the length of the average news article. It’s hard for a journalist to explain them, and it’s hard for a reader to comprehend them. While longer form journalism about Africa is much more infrequent than, say, longer forms of journalism about Washington DC politics, there are a few stellar journalists working on books, magazine articles, documentaries, and photo essays scattered across this diverse continent.

I’m starting a new series on this blog: Context Africa. The idea is to highlight projects that go above and beyond daily news to tell a story of a place in its context ,as well as to create an ongoing dialogue about what it means to tell contextual stories in Africa.

Coming tomorrow will be a Q and A with friend, sometimes collaborator, and stellar writer Jina Moore. She just finished a piece for the Walrus Magazine, “No Small Mercy.”

Stay tuned.

I went to Berkeley for my undergrad degree. I studied art history, which has a surprising yet very limited relevance to my life now, so wanted to post this opportunity that found its way to my inbox for accomplished African journalists.

UC Berkeley Fellowships for African Journalists

The Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley is pleased to invite applications for two yearlong fellowships for accomplished African journalists, beginning in August 2009.

The fellowships will each total $36,000, including roundtrip airfare, professional stipends, and rent while in Berkeley. The initiative will also offer dedicated funding for both domestic U.S. and Africa travel for research and reporting work.

The selected fellows will join the School’s Visiting International Scholars Program and participate in a new journalism training initiative aimed at producing high quality coverage of agricultural development issues in Africa for dissemination in U.S., African, and international media.

Requirements:

Selected fellows must bring at least five years experience in journalism in sub-Saharan Africa, in any medium including print newspaper, magazine, television, radio, documentary, or new media format such as blogging, podcasting, and other online publishing.

Applicants also must demonstrate a proven track record of commitment to the truth-seeking craft, and a willingness to effectively investigate problems of food access and production on the continent.

A B.A. degree, at minimum, is strongly desired, along with experience and knowledge about agricultural issues in African countries.

Selected African fellows will enroll with other Visiting Scholars in background courses at Berkeley examining the global food crisis starting in late August 2009, while also contributing their knowledge about Africa and journalism to their U.S. and international peers.

Applications must include a CV, three examples of work, and a one-page cover letter containing a statement of interest. Please send applications to the following email address, c/o dean’s assistant Julie Hirano: africa@journalism.berkeley.edu

Deadline for applications: May 1, 2009

This opportunity is part of a new two-year grant provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Awhile back, I posted a list of journalists who work in Africa and blog. I asked for other suggestions, and I’ve gotten them. Here’s an updated list:

(In no particular order)
In Nairobi, Nick Wadhams
In Kigali, Jina Moore
In Khartoum, Andrew Heavens
Also in Nairobi, Derek Kilner
All over the place, David Axe
In Zambia, Aaron Leaf
In Nigeria, Wil Conors
All over the place, G. Pascal Zachary
In Nairobi, and elsewhere, Shashank Bengali
In Nairobi and elsewhere, photojournalist Micah Albert
In Nairobi and elsewhere, Rob Crilly
In Nairobi and elsewhere, Steve Bloomfield
In Monrovia, Myles Estey
In Abidjan, Pauline
In Congo and elsewhere, photojournalist TJ Kirkpatrick
In Nairobi and elsewhere, photojournalist J Carrier
In Cairo, photojournalist and editor Ben Curtis
In Congo and elsewhere, unnamed author of African Heros

And also,
Formerly all over Africa and still writing about Africa, Alex Belida
Formerly in Kampala, now in Mexico City, Alexis Okeowo
JHR folks
Frontline folks

From Jogany:
Mialy http://mialisenfout.hautetfort.com/
Randy Donny http://randydoit.hautetfort.com/

From Diário da África
www.diariodaafrica.blogspot.com

Via email, from Eric Jon Magnuson,

Monrovia is changing every day. Before I left on my recent get-away, I walked past this amazing building in the center of town. In what was once a large window or entrance of a tall official looking building, dozens and dozens of neckties were on display, for sale, in an interlocking kaleidoscopic pattern of tie-decadence. I didn’t have my camera with me, but thought what a great shot that place would make. The old building not in use, the second hand ties for sale, the vibrant street life in Monrovia’s center. I’d wait for the right passer by in the frame, hoping for an amazing snap.

I went back just the other day. The building was boarded up and under renovation, aluminum siding covering the opening where the ties once were. The ties are still there, on display, but now instead of being part of a decaying urban landscape, they’re hanging on aluminum siding. My visual was gone. I could still take the picture, but the aluminum siding made the ties look more like they were at Target and less like they’re in post-conflict West Africa.

I thought about how before I came to Liberia, I was excited to move to a country people were hopeful about, that was said to be improving quickly. When I thought about how one week a building was in disrepair and the next week it was being repaired, I thought this must be true.

Over too much wine this weekend, a new friend and old Liberia hand commented on change.

Every time he’s come back over the past several years, he said, there are new coats of paint and refurbished buildings. But, not much really changes. People are still traumatized, ex-combatants are not reintegrated, and the average Liberian is not better off than he was last year.

The more some things change, the more other things stay the same.

I’m heading offline for the next two weeks for a much needed break from Liberia. It’s hard to believe I’ve already been here for long enough to warrant a vacation, but ’tis true. Enjoy these photos and I’ll be back in late April….

I’m looking to hire two people or one multi-talented person to complete these tasks:

ADMIN HELP

I need a person who is based in the USA or the UK who can receive files I send digitally and burn to CDs or DVDs to submit for fellowships and awards along with paperwork. It’s hard for me to do this from Africa, and I don’t really want to impose on my friends of family back home since they’re all busy. All you need to do this job is access to the internet, a CD burner, and a printer. There’s the possibility of other random administrative tasks as well. I will pay you and/or arrange college credit if that’s something that would be useful to you. This will take up about 5 – 15 hours per month.

I can offer things in return as well, depending on what you might need: selected editorial contacts, advice getting started, photo and writing tips, etc. Or anything else you think I might be able to offer you.

WEB HELP

I’ve talked to a few people about fixing up this blog and have even moved forward with certain plans only for things to later not work out logistically or financially. So, what I’m looking for is someone who can help me move this blog to scarlettlion.com and possibly fancy it up a bit design-wise, since despite the huge quantity of blogging I’ve done, I’m actually pretty computer incompetent.

Please don’t quote me a price by the hour for this but a flat rate. And if you think of your prices as “midrange” or “high end”, I probably can’t afford your excellent and amazing skills at this point.

Happy to also promote your work on my new blog site.

TO APPLY

I’m about to head off on holiday (yay!) for about two weeks. In the meantime, email me – glennagordon at gmail dot com. Please don’t send any attachments.

For the web job: just a price quote, a time line, and maybe a link to a few other sites you’ve done.

For the admin job: an hourly rate, a few lines about yourself, and why you’d want to do this.

I’ll get back to you the week of April 20.****

***Anyone who has an in with the cheese industry and their own refrigerated shipping container heading to West Africa should specify in the email for special consideration.

Audrey Bardou’s photo essay about her parents is posted on Burn Magazine. I flipped through the images just this morning and felt incredibly moved by the emotional intesnity and narrative power of the story. They are simple and beautiful. There is nothing here of “international importance” or grand significance, but a story of two people who love each other and the loss that is part of ageing and living.

Via State of the Art, I found out about Tim Hetherington’s soon to be released photo book on Liberia. On his homepage, you can see a lot of his images of Liberia during wartime. The pictures are amazing and show a commitment to making images in Liberia over several years. Definitely worth checking out.

MSF is everywhere doctors are needed and they always hire amazing talent to document their work. You can see a lot of the images here. What I appreciate about a lot of these images is they aren’t stock white-doctor-helping-refugee images, but often show a side of conflict that is beyond the frontlines. The photo here was taken in Chad in 2007.